Home > Consumer Reviews > Manual Switchbox Db15f for Vga Monitors 2x1 Ab

For those with 2 HiDef displays or projectors and you want to use the VGA inputs, this is a godsend! I have a CRT front projector (100" screen) and a small 15" LCD panel that both accept VGA signals, I wanted to simply be able to watch all my sources on either of the displays....whether the source was upconverted by a DVDO HD Iscan video processor (DVD, VCR, original Xbox, SEGA Dreamcasr, etc.,), or native HiDef signals (Xbox 360, HDTV Tuner, HD DVD, etc.,) And this switch is fantastic, especially for the price. Highly recommend it to those considering spendng LOTS more money for similar devices..because they don't want the signal degraded.

I have a Dell E1705 laptop hooked up to an external monitor in addition to the laptop screen, so that the ms desktop spans across both screens. I recently purchased a Samsung LN46A550 TV: Samsung LN46A550 46-inch 1080p LCD HDTV and use this simple AB box to switch between my desktop monitor and the TV. I haven't noticed any degradation of the picture quality with this switch in the middle, and I simply flip to A when I want to use my smaller desktop monitor and B when I want to use the 46" TV monitor.

You'll also need 2 M/M monitor cables if you are trying something similar: Tripp Lite P502-006 SVGA Monitor Gold Cable w RGB Coax HD15M/M - 6ft. You may need something longer for one of the cables, depending how far away the TV is from your computer. Whatever you get just make sure they are male on both ends, as all the monitor inputs on the TV/switch/computer are Female.

You'll probably also want a stereo cable to connect the pc sound to the TV: Cables To Go - 27412 - 12ft 3.5mm Stereo Audio Cable M/M PC-99 (Beige)

And a reliable remote keyboard/mouse so you can operate the computer from the couch when you've switched to the TV monitor: Adesso 2.4 GHZ WIRELESS SLIMTOUCH TOUCHPAD MINI KEYBOARD SILVER W/BLACK KEYS ( WKB-4000US )

The mousepad on the above keyboard works well, but there's a few games that I prefer to use a normal mouse with. I just ordered a Logitech bluetooth mouse for that purpose, but haven't tested it out yet: Logitech V470 Bluetooth Cordless Laser Mouse for Notebooks - Blue

This setup works for me for switching between my TV and another monitor on the same computer.

A more traditional use for this AB switch would be sharing one monitor with two computers, and I noticed a couple reviews mention that application as well. I didn't see anything specific on using it to switch to/from a HDTV and an external monitor on the same computer, and that's one reason I wrote this review.

The Switch itself is a very simple device and it's hard to imagine much going wrong with it. One minor issue I had was with the screws inside the box unraveling instead of the monitor connection screws. I wound up having to get a phillips screwdriver out to open the box and reseat the screws that had fallen off inside.

Edit 5/27/2008: After writing all this about using two monitors via one connection on the PC...my son pointed out that a vga splitter would be simpler and allow the tv and pc monitor to display the same image simultaneously. Cables To Go - 29550 - 2-Port UXGA Video Splitter Extender seems like it should do the trick, eliminating the AB switch from the equation. The cable that connects this particular splitter to the PC looks like it needs to be a non-standard M/F though (looking at the picture).

When you run a server and a laptop next to each other, or you just want more real estate space for your single monitor, using this switch box makes switching back and for and sharing another monitor easy.

I use this to switch back and forth from my xbox 360 and my computer so I can use my 22" monitor. I had to go on line to find this switchbox as no one had one even Radio Shack. I love it now I can play video games and watch TV at the same time.

use it between my pc monitor and xbox 360, works great, works everytime. does what it's suppose to for a good price, vey happy with purchase.